Too Late, Your Grace: I'm in Your Rival's Bed

Chapter 3

When I entered Locke's duchy again, crowds had gathered on both sides of the gate to watch.

"How does she have the nerve to come back?"

"His Grace was right. She couldn't even make it three days."

Every word pricked like a needle. Behind me, Ruby asked if I wanted an escort. I shook my head. "This is something I have to end myself."

Ronan's knights stayed outside the walls. I went into the castle with only the old steward and a clerk from the cathedral. The guards who'd once served my family saw the old crest on my chest and hesitated to draw their swords. For now, at least, no one dared pretend they'd forgotten my family name.

All my dresses, jewelry, and belongings had been dumped outside my rooms like garbage. My eyes burned. I had spent ten years turning this place into a home. Daphne had erased every trace of me in a single night.

An old music box lay crushed on the floor, its rusted mechanism exposed. Locke had given it to me after returning from his first campaign, and I had treasured it so much that I never let anyone touch it. Now I crouched down and closed its broken lid, but I didn't take it with me. I picked up only the wooden chest my parents had left behind.

The old steward tried to help me sort through everything. I drew a deep breath. "I don't want a single thing Locke gave me. Make a record of my parents' belongings and account books, then take them all."

Locke emerged from the side hall. His gaze swept over the cathedral clerk and the old crest before his customary sneer returned. "Weren't you supposedly captured by the enemy? Back so soon?"

When he came closer, he caught the unfamiliar scent of fir on me. His expression darkened. "Who touched you?"

"That's none of your concern."

Locke seized my wrist and lowered his voice. "Now that you're done with this tantrum, stay. Once Daphne gives birth, she'll be my wife in name, but there will always be rooms for you in one of the side wings. Nothing between us has to change."

The offer was so absurd that I could only stare at the man I had loved for ten years. "You want me to become your mistress?"

"Don't make it sound so sordid. We love each other. It's only natural for us to be together."

"You told a room full of men I'd come crawling back to you. Then you had me whipped outside the cathedral. And now you're calling that love?"

Locke's face stiffened. "You heard that? It was only a joke between men."

I had no patience left for him. "Where is the ring?"

Daphne leaned against the doorway and lifted her right hand with a triumphant smile. The familiar emerald flashed in the firelight. I swallowed the anger rising in me.

"That belonged to my parents. You have no right to wear it. Take it off. Now."

"It's only a ring. Why are you so determined to take it from me?" Daphne stepped forward, then suddenly threw herself backward. "Juliet! Why did you push me?"

Everyone had seen exactly what happened. I hadn't moved or touched so much as the hem of her dress. Even so, Locke raised his hand to strike me.

I caught his wrist. The movement ripped open yesterday's wounds, sending white-hot pain across my back. I didn't let go.

Muffled gasps rippled through the room. Locke had never expected his obedient Juliet to stop him. He certainly hadn't expected to look into my eyes and find no trace of the adoration he took for granted.

Furious, he ordered the guards to seize me. They traded uncertain looks. The old steward stepped in front of me. "My lady bears the former lord's crest. Without a council judgment, no one may punish her again."

I pulled out the declaration I'd signed. "Give back the ring, and I'll surrender every privilege I hold in this duchy."

Locke stared at the document. "You'd rather be an exiled commoner than give up that ring?"

"My parents left it to me."

Locke laughed. "Beg me. Kneel, and I'll give it back. I might even forgive this two-day tantrum of yours."

Ten years of habit made my knees go weak. Whenever he was displeased, I apologized. Whenever he turned away, I chased after him. Locke watched me, certain I'd kneel.

'She'll come crawling back inside three days.'

His words from the night before rang in my head. Slowly, I straightened up. "No. The ring was mine to begin with. I shouldn't have to beg you for it."

The smile froze on his face.

"Sign the declaration—or I'll ask the cathedral and every lord in the realm to rule on whether you have any right to seize my family's token."

That finally set him off. He wrenched the ring off Daphne's finger and hurled it at me. "Take your worthless ring and get out!"

I slid it onto my finger and turned for the door. "I used to stand between you and every trouble, Locke. From now on, you can face them yourself."